School of Denim

There are 3 denim items that every man should have. In order of importance and ideal number:


1. Jeans (4+)
2. Shirt (1)
3. Jacket (1)


1. Lets start with Jeans. I've put 4+ because there are so many different fits and colours that are essential to a decent wardrobe. So in your 'basic' wardrobe you need these 4 denim jeans - 1. Dark Wash  2. Light Wash  3. Medium Wash  4. Black 


These are the basic 4 and you won't get these all at once due to the obvious financial constraints so start with the dark wash. It's important to shop around as 1 brand won't have the best of all 4. Below I have recommended where to get the 2 most important colours (dark and light).

Fit - broadly speaking, there's bootleg, straight, slim and skinny. The difference between them from bootleg to skinny is how tapered the bottom half of the jean is. I'd say to get most out of your jeans, depending on the thickness of your leg, choose anywhere between straight and skinny, never bootleg. Why? Because bootleg is designed to fit over BIG boots so it narrows down your options. Wearing a bootleg without boots and you look like your wearing flares. 


So between Straight & Skinny - How to choose?


How big are your legs? The thicker they are, the tighter the jeans are going to look, so a slim fit on a rugby player will look more like a skinny fit whereas on someone with skinny legs, they'll look more like a straight leg. So get the style according to your legs and waist and remember, the bigger your legs, the less tapered jean you need to get to actually get the tapered look. I personally believe a tapered fit is the best option if your just starting out as it gives the appearance of looking taller, slimmer and can be worn with shoes, trainers and boots. 

Abercrombie & Fitch Dark Wash Super Skinny, can also get in Skinny or Slim.

For a variety of tapered dark to medium wash jeans click the link below. 
(Yes I know it's Abercrombie and you probably aren't an American 'College' Student at Yale and you probably don't drink beer from plastic red cups but from my experience of jeans, these fit very well and have subtle differences in how tapered the leg goes to get a good variety of fits). P.S. Avoid ripped jeans because a) You can't wear them to work/smart events and b) you're not in a boy band. 


Abercrombie & Fitch Jeans


For a light wash I'd go for the classic Levis jeans. These are good because as you can see they fit very well all the way down but aren't too narrow at the bottom for a perfect fit all round. 

Levis 510 Skinny Fit Collection

Levis 510 Skinny Jeans - a good 'light wash' pair of jeans to have,.

2. The denim shirt - this is simple. Get a fitted light coloured denim shirt, preferably not with pearl buttons as most of them have but with wooden ones, this looks much smarter. Don't go anywhere near dark denim shirts unless your a 90's hip hop artist.

3. Denim Jacket - Almost the opposite to the above. Go for a medium/dark wash denim jacket as these are timeless. Light wash denim jackets come and go and can be very hit and miss, so to get most use out of your money, go for a this kind of denim jacket wash.

Good example of medium wash denim jacket at a decent price (£45)